A

PROJECT REPORT

ON

“A COMPREHENSIVE STUDY ON CHANNEL PARTNERS SATISFACTION LEVEL OF KINGFISHER PACKAGED DRINKING

WATER”

AT

Kingfisher (Iceberg Foods Ltd.), Aurangabad

SUBMITTED BY:Ketan M. Rathod

Under the guidance of:Prof. Kuldip Kahalekar

SUBMITTED TO: “Dr.BABASAHAB AMBEDKAR UNIVERSITY ” In Partial Fulfilment of the requirement for the award of the degree Of Master of Business Administration (MBA)

M. S. P. Mandal’s

Deogiri College of Management Studies (MBA)

Aurangabad-431001

M.S.P Mandal’s

Deogiri Institute of Technology & Management Studies Aurangabad

CERTIFICATE

This to certify that MR.KETAN MULCHAND RATHOD Is Student of Deogiri Institute of Management Studies, Aurangabad Batch 2011-12Has Duly Completed

the Summer Training Project (CP-304 )“A COMPREHENSIVE STUDY ON CHANNEL PARTNERS SATISFACTION LEVEL OF KINGFISHER PACKAGED

DRINKING WATER “Has submitted Report to Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University, Aurangabad in the partial fulfilment of M.B.A

(First Year), for the academic year 2011-2012.

Guided By H.O.D. Director

Mr.Kuldip Kahalekar Jiveen Solunke Dr. Ulhas D. Shiurkar

DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this project titled, “A Comprehensive Study On Channel Partners

satisfaction level Of Kingfisher Package Drinking Water ” is written by me in the academic year

2011-12, and submitted to the ‘M. S. P. Mandal’s Deogiri College of Management Studies

(MBA)’ affiliated to B.A.M.U. University for award of Master of Business Administration

degree.

I further declare that the same has not been submitted, in full or in part to any

other University for any other degree.

Ketan M. Rathod

MBA-Ist year

(Deogiri College,A’bad)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all the individuals who have directly and indirectly helped me in the successful completion of this project.

First of all, I am thankful to the management Kingfisher (Iceberg Foods Ltd.), Aurangabad for giving me an opportunity to work in their esteemed organisation.

I am also thankful to Mr. Satish Sawant, Regional Sales Manager for giving me his valuable time and providing me with the essential information related to the project.

I am grateful and highly indebted to my guide Prof. Kuldip Kahalekar for the valuable guidance they have rendered for the efficient completion of my project. They have guided me and helped me to solve the many queries and problems that I have encountered during the course of this venture.

A special thanks to Prof. Jeevan Salunke, Head of Department (Deogiri College) for extending his total support and guidance. He has mentored us right from the beginning of the course and continues to do so and encourages us to perform to the best of our abilities.

I express my sincere thanks to our Director Dr. Ulhas D. Shiurkar who is the backbone of our coveted institutes, a constant source of inspiration and motivation for the students’ efforts towards academic and career development.

I would also like to thank my family and friends for their moral support throughout this project.

I sincerely hope that the project report will help the company and serve as guide to those using this project.

Ketan M. Rathod

MBA-Ist year

(Deogiri College,A’bad)

Contents

Sr. No. Topic Page No.

1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

2 SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES OF REPORT

3 INDUSTRY PROFILE

4 COMPANY PROFILE

5 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

6 SWOT ANALYSIS

7 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

8 DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

9 FINDINGS

10 LIMITATIONS

11 CONCLUSIONS

12 RECOMMENDATIONS

13 BIBLIOGRAPHY

14 ANNEXURE

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

TITLE OF THE PROJECT

“A Comprehensive study on channel partners satisfaction level of Kingfisher Packaged Drinking Water”

The proposed research is designed to find out the level of satisfaction and the factors that aid in retaining the retailers. It is designed to understand the sensibilities of the modern day retailer and thereby understand the factors that motivate the retailers and affects the sales and sustainability of a product in the market.

REASON FOR CHOOSING THIS PROJECT

India is the tenth largest bottled water consumer in the world. In 2002, the industry had an estimated turnover of Rs.10 billion (Rs.1,000 crores). Today it is one of India's fastest growing industrial sectors. Between 1999 and 2004, the Indian bottled water market grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25 per cent - the highest in the world.  Kingfisher is the largest selling beer in India. According to statistics one out of every 4 bottles of beer sold every second in India is Kingfisher. It is now setting a foothold in the mineral water industry too. It has introduced its products in a wide variety consisting of different packages of 1 litre, 500 ml, 2 litre, 5 litre and 20 litre jars. Customer satisfaction begins with a difficult faith; it starts with a commitment to deliver the result for each customer which is also a concern of the retailers. Hence for a manufacturing company, in order to satisfy its customers, it is highly important to satisfy its retailers, as they are the direct customers to them. Establishing satisfaction as the ultimate goal is like the other ultimate goals of business pursuit of higher profits or shareholders wealth. Perfect retailer service or satisfaction is one that meets the combined need satisfaction is a systemized service that involves the entire organization. But many organizations have yet to develop this kind of awareness of retailer satisfaction strategy. The reason behind choosing this topic is that it is necessary for the Kingfisher group to understand the market in the face of ongoing competition prevailing among existing market players. Since the retailers are the final link in the channel partners’ chain, the company must understand and view things from the retailers’ point of view. A careful study involving retailers helps in discovering opportunities and areas that need improvement.

SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT

SCOPE OF THE PROJECT

The study of this project is based on the careful study of the Aurangabad market.

It is generally limited to retail outlets inside Aurangabad which stocked kingfisher

packaged drinking water.

The findings are based on the result of the survey conducted upon the response of the

owners/managers of these retail outlets.

It covers the study based on kingfisher packaged drinking water products.

It covers restaurants, bars, and convenience shops.

OBJECTIVES

To understand the level of satisfaction of kingfisher packaged drinking water among

channel partners (retailers).

To find the factors influencing the dealers to deal with kingfisher products.

To identify the retailers’ suggestions with respect to kingfisher products.

To Make recommendation about marketing efforts for promoting sales of “Kingfisher”

packaged drinking water in Aurangabad city.

DURATION

This project was carried out for the duration of two months (15th May-15th July)

SAMPLE SIZE

A sample size of 100 outlets was considered for this study.

INDUSTRY PROFILE

Bottled Water Industry in India

  India is the tenth largest bottled water consumer in the world. In 2002,  the industry had an estimated turnover of Rs.10 billion (Rs.1,000 crores). Today it is one of India's fastest growing industrial sectors. Between 1999 and 2004, the Indian bottled water market grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25 per cent - the highest in the world.   With over a thousand bottled water producers, the Indian bottled water industry is big by even international standards. There are more than 200 brands, nearly 80 per cent of which are local. Most of the small-scale producers sell non-branded products and serve small markets. In fact, making bottled water is today a cottage industry in the country. Leave alone the metros, where a bottled-water manufacturer can be found even in a one-room shop, in every medium and small city and even some prosperous rural areas there are bottled water manufacturers.    Despite the large number of small producers, this industry is dominated by the big players - Parle Bisleri, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Parle Agro, Mohan Meakins, SKN Breweries and so on. Parle was the first major Indian company to enter the bottled water market in the country when it introduced Bisleri in India 25 years ago.   The  total annual bottled water consumption in India had tripled to 5 billion liters in 2004 from 1.5 billion liters in 1999. Global consumption of bottled water was nearing 200 billion liters in 2006.     

 

   Water bottle

Bottled water companies earn  extraordinary profit   Up to 40% of bottled water comes from the same source as tap water, but is sold back to consumers at hundreds of times the cost, says the website of the North American "Think Outside the Bottle" campaign.    Not only Coca-Cola but there are thousands of brands in India's $445 million packaged water industry. "Whatever figures you come across in the bottled water business would be underestimated," says Chandra Bhushan, associate director of the New Delhi-based Center for Science and Environment that campaigns to protect ground water resources. He said companies earn extraordinary profits by selling water at 10 rupees (24 US cents) or more per litre after a production cost of 25 paise, or 0.25 rupee per liter. The water is drawn mostly from public sources.       Not just bottlers are involved. In south India, thousands of fuel trucks converted to be water carriers sell ground water to households and establishments at about $10 for 5,000 liters. More than 13,000 tankers carry water drawn from farmland   

surrounding Chennai, according a social activist R Srinivasan. He estimates a $148 million tanker industry is cashing in on Chennai's acute water scarcity.

Variety of packages

Bottled water is sold in a variety of packages: pouches and glasses, 330 ml bottles, 500 ml bottles, one- litre bottles and even 20- to 50-litre bulk water packs. The formal bottled water business in India can be divided broadly into three segments in terms of cost: premium natural mineral water, natural mineral water and packaged drinking water.   Premium natural mineral water includes brands such as Evian, San Pelligrino and Perrier, which are imported and priced between Rs.80 and Rs.110 a litre. Natural mineral water, with brands such as Himalayan and Catch, is priced around Rs.20 a litre. Packaged drinking water, which is nothing but treated water, is the biggest segment and includes brands such as Parle Bisleri, Coca-Cola's Kinley and PepsiCo's Aquafina. They are priced in the range of Rs.10-12 a litre.

  Bottled water top players

Top multinational players such as Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have been trying for the past decade to capture the Indian bottled water market. Today they have captured a significant portion of it. However, Parle Bisleri continues to hold 40 per cent of the market share. Kinley and Aquafina are fast catching up, with Kinley holding 20-25 per cent of the market and Aquafina approximately 10 per cent. The rest, including the smaller players, have 20-25 per cent of the market share.    The western region accounts for 40 per cent of the market and the eastern region just 10. However, the bottling plants are concentrated in the southern region - of the approximately 1,200 bottling water plants in India, 600 are in Tamil Nadu. This is a major problem because southern India, especially Tamil Nadu, is water starved. 

COMPANY PROFILE

A name synonymous with Beer in India - Kingfisher stands for excitement, youth and camaraderie.

The Beer brands manufactured and marketed by United Breweries Ltd. have always been recognized for their international quality. That's Beer at its best for the discerning consumer!

The largest selling Beer in India

Now moving towards the mineral water industry also.

Commanding a 29% market share in the country

One out of every 4 bottles of beer sold every second in India

Available in 52 countries across the globe

The first among Indian brands to launch its own range of designer wear

Company structure

Dr. Vijay Mallya

Chairman

John Simon Hunt Director

Ravi Nedungadi

Director

Kalyan Ganguly Chhagan Lal Jai

Managing Director Director

   

Chugh Yoginder Pal Director

John Nicolson Director

Sunil Kumar AlaghDirector Govind Iyengar Company Secretary

KINGFISHER

“The King of Good Times” is India’s best-selling beer, and from Mumbai to Delhi, the locals guzzle through millions of bottles annually. But although the brand commands up to 25% of its domestic market, unless you’ve visited India or are a part-time connoisseur of curries, you may not have recognized Kingfisher’s qualities as the perfect accompaniment to a chicken Vindaloo.

However, all that could change in the future as Kingfisher’s owners, United Breweries, have delivered their premium brand to the web in an effort to increase global awareness of their coveted flagship product.

The Kingfisher homepage is everything you would expect from the Indian-based brand. It is colorful and noisy (although the score sounds more Caribbean than Indian) and there’s plenty of animation to enhance the viewing experience. Areas of the site that are well worth a visit include the Fun n Beer section, where you can send E-cards to your friends or have a chuckle at the Beer Jokes; the Food section, which is a must for lovers of Indian cuisine; and the World section, which contains information about the history of United Breweries and the Kingfisher brand itself. Unfortunately, the facility to order Kingfisher beer and apparel online only exists for residents of Bangalore at present, so from an E-tail perspective, the site is limited to a fraction of its own indigenous market.

This feeling of constraint is also extended to other site areas and there are several sections within Kingfisher.com that are weak in terms of content and will need substantial embellishment if United Breweries are to make full use of the web as a marketing tool. The Sports pages are a good example of this as they simply contain a handful of paragraphs on Kingfisher’s sponsorship of past sporting events, rather than evangelizing what associates the emotional aspects of the Kingfisher brand with its chosen recreational partners.

Mission

The group Mission Statement embodies these objectives:

To be the recognized leader in our target markets

To be the preferred employer wherever we operate

To recognize the value of our human assets

To be the partner of choice for customers, suppliers, and other creators of innovative concepts

Achievements

The largest selling Beer in India.

Commands a 29% market share in the country.

6 bottles of Kingfisher are sold every second in India.

Available in 52 countries across the globe.

The first among Indian brands to launch its own range of designerwear.

Won the World's best Lite Lager Award at the Stockholm Beer Festival in 1994.

Won the World's best Lite Lager Award at the Stockholm Beer Festival in 1995.

Won the Gold medal at the World Beer Championship held in Chicago in 1997.

Won the first prize for the label work category at the Asian Grand Prix Cyrel 2000 . Label award.

First Prize in the International Beer Awards organised by the New Zealand Hop . .. . Marketing Board.

Won the Bronze award at the 'Australian International Beer Awards' in the . International Packaged Beer Section for the year 2000."

ICEBERG FOODS LIMITED

About Us

We are quality pet performs manufacturers in India with state of the art technology husky injection molding system. We can offer performs in 28 mm pco in 24, 27.7, 42& 48 GM. All performs are approved by Pepsi. We use 100 % virgin material (Pepsi approved).

We can sign long term contract and have a manufacturing facility at present of 300,000 performs/day.

Company Profile

Company Name: Iceberg Foods Ltd.,

Country/Territory: India 

Address:13,Udyog Bhavan, Sonawala Lane ,Goregaon(E), Mumbai , Maharashtra  

Products/Services :

We offer international quality(Pepsi approved) pet preforms in 28 mm pco neck in 24,27.7,42& 48 GM processed on husky injection molding system. Can manufacture 300,000 preforms/day

Business Type: Manufacturer

Industry Focus:Packaging Product Stocks ,  Packaging Related Machinery ,  Packaging, Printing Projects , 

Geographic Markets: Worldwide

No. of Employees: 11 - 50 People

Annual Sales Range (USD): US$1 Million - US$2.5 Million

Year Established: 1998

Legal Representative/CEO: Mr. Mallya

Iceberg Foods Ltd. is a seven years old company in this industry and we are one of the leading company having all India rights for manufacturing & marketing packaged Drinking water with a brand name “Kingfisher” trademark owned by famous “UB” group & “RC Cola” trademark

owned by “Royal Crown Cola” which third largest selling soft drink brand in the world with a presence in almost all the countries of the world.

Our clients are spread all over the country. We are one of those few brands that have got ISI certification in Rajasthan and we are committed to supply pure and hygienic water. Our packaged drinking water is manufactured under perfect hygienic conditions as per ISI Standards and we have been consistent in supplying Quality product to all our customers.

We have one of the best distribution infrastructures in the business to provide timely services to all our vendors. We have around 110 distributors all over the Rajasthan who are further supplying our stocks to thousands of retailers than to our end users.

Our product comes in a wide range of packages like 200ml, 250ml, 500 ml, 1ltr, 2 litters, 5 litters, 20 litters & 600ml & 1.5 litters Soda.

Our packaged drinking water is bottled in fully automatic plant with reverse osmosis, organization & ultra filtration process. Along with latest pesticides removal system through activated carbon filtration process as per EU norms.

It is understood that throughout India 90% of the stress related diseases are caused due to consumption of contaminated food & water. We process water at our plant with the most modern, high tech equipment sodium filtration resulting in not only healthy but also sweeter packaged drinking water.

Our packaged drinking water is processed and packed in a sophisticated and chemical free plant to maintain highest level of hygiene. Our packaged drinking water is manufactured under a very strict in house quality control system, ensuring that what you drink is what nature intended.

Classification of Product

Iceberg Foods Ltd. Is one of the loading pioneers in the field of “KINGFISHER PREMIUM”

packaging & drinking water in various packing 500 ml, 1ltr, 2 ltr, 20 ltr.

1 ltr, 2 ltr, 500 ml bottle

MANUFACTURING PROCESS

Purification Process

Purity and safety are two major factors taken care in sourcing and processing of Kingfisher water. Underground spring is carefully selected based on its portability and pathogen free water. Great care goes in tapping this source. Only water below 25 meters is tapped. This is to avoid any surface contamination to percolate and mix with underground water source. Area surrounding the water collection tube at the surface is protected and kept clean.

Packaging of water should be done in clean, hygienic, colourless, transparent and temper proof plastic/glass bottles/containers suitable for preventing possible adulteration and contamination of water. Plastic used for making plastic bottles/containers should be of food grade quality.

Bottles/containers should be marked with information about name of product, name & address of processor, brand name, batch or code number, date of processing, treat of disinfection, best for consumption date, net volume, and direction for storage and any other marking(s) required by Weights & Measures Standards, Packaged Commodity Rules and provisions of Prevention of Food Adulteration Act & Rules.

Considering that above safety aspects should be ensured in the interest of public safety, Government has regulated manufacture, packaging and marketing of packaged drinking water through a quality control order. Under this order Packaged Natural Mineral Water and Packaged Drinking Water should meet all requirements of IS 13428 and IS 14543 respectively. In addition bottles/containers containing water should bear ISI Mark. Any violation of this quality control order attracts a fine of Rs. 50000 and imprisonment of six months. Provisions of this order apply equally on the processing and packaging unit, distributor, stockiest and retailer.

ISI marking on any bottle/container of drinking water provides an assurance by Bureau of Indian standards that water meets the requirements of specified Indian Standard and is safe and free from harmful organisms.

Marvin Plastic Company makes the pet bottle for the kingfisher for packaging drinking water.

Processing and Quality Assurance

The casing tube itself is protected with stainless steel mesh to give a preliminary filtration to the water. Ultra filtration gives water reduction in turbidity and adds sparkle activated carbon purifier to remove colour and odour in water

Reverse osmosis membrane has porosity of less than 0.01 micron the process renders water free o microorganisms and also reduces dissolved solids

To ensure Kingfisher packaged drinking water is held safe free from contaminations, ultraviolet treatment and ozonisation process is carried out. Ozone is unstable trivalent oxygen, a very powerful bactericide with no side effect, as it disintegrates into oxygen within couple of hours.

Sterilization effect of ozonised water continues even after water is packaged, thereby ensuring safety of Kingfisher up to its final packing. To ensure high quality of packing materials, components like caps and bottles are manufactured in-house from resins of quality suppliers.

Good Manufacturing Practices are stringently followed at all times. Processing is religiously monitored at every stage. Testing source water, processing parameters, microbial quality, packaging material integrity and finally, shelf life studies, forms an integral part of quality and safety assurance plan.

Quality checking: Quality is checked by sampling method as a batched test at every stage of beer manufacturing even quality of bottle is also checked before actually using.

Production:

70,000 to 80,000 bottles per day.

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

Retailing consists of the sale of goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be individuals or businesses. In commerce, a "retailer" buys goods or products in large quantities from manufacturers or importers, either directly or through a wholesaler, and then sells smaller quantities to the end-user. Retail establishments are often called shops or stores. Retailers are at the end of the supply chain. Manufacturing marketers see the process of retailing as a necessary part of their overall distribution strategy. The term "retailer" is also applied where a service provider services the needs of a large number of individuals, such as a public utility, like electric power.

Retailer Satisfaction begins with the following specific assumptions about the company’s relationship with the customers.1. The retailer service activities focus mainly on existing dealers.2. Some retailers are more important than others3. They are the assets.4. The retailer is always specific.

The retailer needs and value should influence every aspect of the organization strategy, employee safety and performance, product and organization strategy, employee safety and performance, product and service development, sales and marketing programs, operational procedures and information and measurement system.

Understanding the retailer is critical to the success of any customer focus initiative, the first step in understanding the dealers is to listen to them. A company needs to hear what its dealers are saying about its people, products, service and vision. Their information helps to develop meaningful product and service.

Organizations need to listen to their retailer satisfied, dissatisfied, neutral and prospective. As one company executive said, “talking to a satisfied customer is talking to myself”. In the past, dealer satisfaction and service was the responsibility of a separate organization that supported the retailer primarily after the sale. Today, service is also likely to be interested with the every product accompany offers. High retailer satisfaction comes from providing effective services. But giving that service is a continuous activity. It means being efficient, reliable, courteous, caring and professional every time.

There are four stages to delivering outstanding retailer satisfaction. First, you must be able to execute fundamental business processes effectively. Then you build in efficient systems to respond to customer needs. Once those systems are in place, you can tailor them to the unique requirements of individual customers. Finally, in stage four, you can align your supply-chainprocesses with individual customers. But it is a progression – you must complete one stage at a time, starting with the basic fundamentals.

This involves not just supply-chain issues, but all aspects of your relationships with retail customers:

Regular visits by sales representatives to customers;

Sales reps who are responsive to customer problems, who have the authority to make decisions, and who conduct effective meetings

Availability of basic consumer to offer category managers to support your category and promotion plans;

Complete and on-time delivery, within a reasonable order cycle time; and,

Accurate invoicing In other words, to become a best practice supplier, you must first be a low-maintenance supplier – one that doesn’t continually cause friction within a customer organization about how to get the basic business accomplished. It’s difficult, if not impossible, to progress further towards becoming a best-practice supplier until you’ve demonstrated an ability to master this first stage.

4 P’s OF MARKETING:-

This is a major concept in traditional marketing. It consists of Product, Price, Place and

Promotion. This is known as 4 P’s of marketing mix. It represents the seller’s views of marketing

tools available for influencing the buyers to opt for their products.

MARKETING IS BECOMING A BATTLE BASED MORE ON INFORMATION THAN

ON SALES POWER.

Marketing Mix:

It is the set of marketing tools that the firm uses to pursue its marketing objectives in the target

market.

4 P’s of marketing are shown in the following diagram:

Not all marketing-mix variables can be adjusted in the short run. Typically, the firm can changes

its price, sales force size, and advertising expenditures in the short run. It can develop new

products and modify its distribution channels only in the long run. Thus the firm typically makes

fewer period-to-period marketing-mix changes in the short run than the number of marketing

mix variables might suggest. Finally, the marketers must decide on the allocation of the

marketing budget to the various products, channels, promotion media, and sales areas.

PRODUCT

WHO SHOULD ULTIMATELY DESIGN THE PRODUCT

THE CUSTOMER OF COURSE.

The most basic marketing-mix tool is product – the firm’s tangible offer to the market, which

includes the product quality, design, features, branding, and packaging. Product can be defined

as follows:

A PRODUCT is anything that can be offered to a market to satisfy a want or need. Products that

are marketed include physical goods (automobiles, books), services (haircuts, concerts), persons

(celebrities and film stars), places (Hawaii), organization and ideas (family planning, safe

driving).

A) Core benefit-

It is the fundamental service or benefit that the customer is really buying. The customer purchase

PDW to satisfy his thrust.

B) Basic Product-

The second level the marketers turn the core benefit into a basic generic product. You need basic

infrastructure to satisfy your particular need.

C) Expected Product-

At the third level the basic product is turned into expected product, a set of attributes and

conditions that buyers normally expect and agree to when they purchase this product.

D) Augmented Product-

At the fourth level the marketers prepare an augmented product that meets the customer’s desire

beyond their expectations. The bottle is of good quality and must be long life. It helps the

customer to recall the product and that help in Next Time Purchase.

E) Potential Product-

Potential product is that product which company wants to provide their customers in future.

Why to design the product:

CORE

BENEFIT

BASIC PRODUCT

EXPECTED PRODUCT

AUGUNANT PRODUCT

POTENTIAL

PRICE

“THE BEST WAY TO ENTER AND KEEP CUSTOMERS IS TO CONSTANTLY FIGURE

OUT HOW TO GIVE THEM MORE FOR LESS.”

A Critical marketing-mix tool is price, the amount of money that customer pay for the product.

Price is the only element in the marketing mix that produces revenue; the other element produce

costs. Price is also one of the most flexible elements of the marketing mix, in that it can be

changed quickly, unlike product features and channel commitments. At the same time, pricing

and price competition are the number one problems facing many marketing executives. Yet,

many companies do not handle pricing well. The most common mistake is these: Pricing is too

cost oriented; price is not revised often enough to capitalize on market changes; price is set

independent of the rest of the marketing mix. Companies handle pricing in a variety of ways. In

small companies, Prices are often set by top management rather by marketing or salespeople. In

large companies, pricing is typically handled by division and product-line managers. Even here,

top management sets the general pricing objectives and policies and often approves the prices

proposed by lower levels of management. In industries where pricing is a key factor (aerospace,

railroads, oil companies), companies will often establish a pricing department to set prices of

assist others in determining appropriate prices. This department reports to the marketing

department, the finance department, or top management. Others who exert an influence on

pricing include sales managers, production managers, finance managers, and accountants.

PLACE

“THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS TO FORECAST WHERE CUSTOMERS ARE

MOVING, AND TO BE IN FRONT OF THEM”

Place, another key marketing- mix tool, includes the various activities they company undertakes

to make the product accessible and available to target customers. One must identify, recruit, and

link various marketing facilitators to supply its products and services efficiently to the target

market. A businessman must understand the various types of retailers, wholesalers, and physical

distribution firms and how they make their decision.

PROMOTION

“SELL VALUE NOT PRICE”

Promotion, the fourth marketing- mix tool, includes all the activities the company undertakes to

communicate and promote its product to the target market. In today world where everyone ready

to cut the throat of everyone else, it is important to prepare form the starting because TODAY YOU HAVE RUN FASTER TO STAY IN THE SAME PLACE. Modern marketing calls for more than a developing a good product, pricing it attractively, and making it accessible to target customers. Companies must also communicate with their present and potential customers, retailers, suppliers, other stakeholders, and the general public. The marketing communications mix consists of five major modes of communication: advertising, sales promotion, public relations and publicity personal selling, and direct marketing.

Concept of Retailing

Recent times have witnessed a major development in the emergence of varied retail formats that have started operating in most of the product categories. There are also the high end retailers targeting niche market segment. Each of these retailer types have distinct advantages. Retailers that combine the characteristics of more than one type of retailing to differentiate themselves from the existing competition are more successful retailers.

Retailers have an important and much refined role to play in today’s competitive environment. Today, retailers are gatekeepers deciding on which new product should find their way to the shelves of their store. As a result, they have a considerable stake in the success of product and service introduced by the business firm. Therefore, marketers sell a new product several times – first within the company, then to the retailers and finally to the consumer.

In the present competitive world, retailers have gained more attention from external parties such as market intermediaries and supplying partners are becoming increasingly powerful. Hence, manufacturers cannot undermine the needs and motivation of their partners in the marketing channels. Consumer companies have more chances to improve their product success rate if they put more effort in creating retailers value and consumer differential advantages.

Channel Structure

The channel structure adopted by a company depends on the number of intermediaries it uses to distribute its product to end users. These intermediaries constitute different channel levels.

The length of a channel is different for consumer markets and industrial markets. The possible channel levels are Zero level, One-level, Two-levels, and Three-levels.

In a Zero level channel, the manufacturer directly sells to the end customer through door-to-door selling, telemarketing and so on. Companies like Modicare and Tupperware reach their customers through direct selling. These companies use a Zero level channel to make their products get to customers hands.

In a One level channel, the manufacturer distributes the product directly to the retailer for him/her to sell them to end users. A single channel intermediary – the retailer – exists between the manufacturer and customers. Best examples of one level channel are automobile manufacturer and petroleum companies.

In a Two level channel, there are two channel intermediaries – wholesaler and retailer – present between the manufacturer and the customer. The manufacturer sells the goods to the wholesaler, who in turn sells them to the retailer. The retailer then sells the goods to consumer. A typical two level marketing channel is that used by manufacturer of fast moving consumer goods such as Hindustan Unilever Limited, Proctor and Gamble, Vicco, Godrej, etc.

In a Three level channel, is characterized by the presence of three channel intermediaries between the manufacturer and the customer. The three channel intermediaries in a three level marketing channel are the wholesaler, the agent and the retailer. An agent acts as a mediator between the wholesaler and the retailer. These channels are commonly found in the pharmaceutical industry. In this industry, medical representative acts as agents of pharmaceutical companies and persuade retail drug stores to purchase from the manufacturer.

0-Level 1-Level 2-Level 3-Level

Customer Satisfaction

Manufacturer Manufacturer Manufacturer Manufacturer

Consumer

Retailer

Consumer

Wholesaler Wholesaler

Retailer Retailer

Consumer Consumer

Jobber

The buyer is satisfied after purchase depends on the offer’s performance in relationship to the

buyer’s expectations, and weather the buyer interprets any deviation between the two. In general,

satisfaction is a person’s feelings of pleasure or disappointment that result from comparing

product’s perceived performance to their expectations. If the performance falls short of

expectation, the customer is dissatisfied. If the performance matches the expectations, the

customer is satisfied. If the performance exceeds expectation, the customer is highly satisfied or

delighted.

A company would be wise to measure customer satisfaction regularly, because one key to

customer retention is customer satisfaction. A highly satisfied customer generally stays loyal

longer, buys more as company introduces new products and upgrades existing products, talks

favorably to others about the company and its product, pays less attention to competing brands

and is less sensitive to price, offer product or services ideas to the company, and costs less to

serve the new customers because transactions can become routine.

For customer – centered companies, customer satisfaction is both a goal and a marketing tool.

Companies need to be especially concerned today with their customer satisfaction level because

the internet provides a tool for consumers to quickly spread bad word of mouth - as well as good

word of mouth – to the rest of the world. Companies that do achieve high customer satisfaction

rating make sure their target market knows it.

SWOT ANALYSIS

S T R E N G T H S

Established name as company is operating since 1857 successfully, so has got a very strong customer loyalty.

Brand image is very high than its competitors, its sales officer’s has got easy access

within the corporate.

Its purification process is very high than its competitors.

Bottling for U B GROUP Limited.

Company is enjoying the advantage of latest technology of production.

Company is serving in all Aurangabad.

Kingfisher is having its own depot at Maharashtra.

Low rates as compared to the nearest competitors like Bisleri, Aquafina, and Lehar.

W E A K N E S S E S

The high price of 20 litre jars

We are unable to provide chilled water

Poor after sale services

Promotion of product is rare

No stress on massive advertisement of the product.

The company is having a small sales force with low morale and professionalism.

Packaging of the product is not attractive.

Poor distribution channels & irregular visit in the market

High price of 1ltr. Water as compared to the local players.

O P P O R T U N I T I E S

Wide market still remains unexplored

People are getting more health conscious

Municipalities are supplying impure water.

Strong brand image of Kingfisher also become USP for shops, offices, & institutes

Persistent water scarcity

Can increase its market shares by advertisements and aggressive marketing. Company

can use more of its production capacity.

Company has license to serve package drinking water in all over India so company can

easily go for other states in order to tap the large unrepresented market.

New services could be attached e.g. after sales services.

T H R E A T S

Bisleri, Aquafina and other companies are serving packaged drinking water in all over India.

Competition from other companies and well-established brands operating in the market.

Consumers are becoming more brand loyal rather than quality conscious.

Attractive schemes are provided by the competitors for their brand promotion.

Public Relation & Promotional activities are inadequate in Aurangabad city.

Eureka Forbes and Aqua guard are trying to capture the market.

Local players like Urja, Yash, are growing at a very fast rate especially at bus stands and railway

station area.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

MEANING OF RESEARCH

The advanced learner’s dictionary of current English lays down the meaning of research as ‘A

careful investigation of inquiry especially through search for new facts in any branch of

knowledge.

Radman and More define research as a “systemized effort to gain new knowledge”

It is the pursuit of truth with the help of study, observation, comparison and experiment. In short,

the search for knowledge through objective and systematic method finding to problem is

research.

MEANING OF RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research methodology is a way to solve the research systematically and scientifically to know

the threats in specified problem. It may understand as science of studying how research is done

scientifically. We generally study carious step that are adopted by a researcher and he is doing

study on research problem along with the logic behind them. It is necessary for the researcher to

know not only the research methods or techniques but also the methodology.

RESEARCH DESIGN

Preparing ‘Research design’ is an important stage in the process conducting research. Research

design is nothing but a scheme of the work to be undertaken by researcher at various stages.

Systematic work on the research project and conduction of various operations methodically

could be facilitated by a research design.

The Research carried out was of descriptive type. Research was done on how the retailer

evaluates the quality of products and the service provided by the company, understanding the

retailer behaviour and designing retailer retention strategies.

DATA SOURCES

There are mainly two sources of data

PRIMARY DATA

It refers to information collects directly from the market place like customers, traders,

suppliers etc.

It is classified under two categories, they are:

Census and sample

Census refers to information that collects from entire group whereas

Sample refers to pie taken from entire group, which can generalize if information

taken represents the whole community for which the research conducted. Hence

sampling responses was used to collect information from the customer situated in

various parts.

SECONDARY DATA

It refers to information that has been collected earlier by someone else, such as internal

database, Internet, websites and research magazines.

DATA COLLECTION

Data is collected through the following techniques;

TECHNIQUE USED

FIELD SURVEY

This is the most common technique. A personal approach gets higher meaningful

responses and the tool used for this was a questionnaire, which gave direct feedback

about the retail outlet. Secondary data collected from company manual and websites,

primary data collected from fieldwork with the help of questionnaire.

DATA ANALYSIS

Data is summarized in tabular form and interpreted in pie chart and diagram analyzed by

using percentage method.

MARKETING RESEARCH PROCESS

FF

Review concepts Formulate Research Collect dataDefine and theories hypothesis design (Execution) researchproblem Review previous research findings Analyze data FF (Test Hypothesis if any)

Interpret and F Report

WHERE F = feedback (helps in controlling the subsystem To which it is transmitted) FF = feed forward (serves the vital function of Providing criteria for evaluation)

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

It was subdivided in many different areas and the many hotels and retail outlets were covered

under it accordingly.

Each area was studied in detail through which the total market analysis can be figured out by

comparison of different rival products in that area.

These areas are:-

1. Waluj

2. Pandarpur

3. Ranjangoan

4. Osmanpura

5. Jalna Road

6. Deulgoan Raja

7. Ambad

8. Jalna City

9. Cidco

10.Aurangpura

Q.1 Are you satisfied with the quality & overall packaging of Kingfisher Packaged

Drinking water?

A. Very Satisfied

B. Moderate

C. Not Satisfied

35%

45%

20%

very satisfied moderate not satisfied

Interpretation

Retailers were asked to rate the quality of packaging; the following results were found

Very Satisfied-35

Moderate-45

Not Satisfied-20

It was found that 45% of Retailers found the packaging quality to be Moderate 20% were not

satisfied and 35% were satisfied.

Q.2 Do you feel that the pricing strategy of Kingfisher is competitive & provides satisfactory margin for retailer?

A. Very Agree

B. Moderate

C. Disagree

9%

28%

63%

very Agree moderate Disagree

Interpretation

Retailers were asked the pricing strategy of Kingfisher is competitive & provides satisfactory margin or not; the following results were found

Very Agree-63

Moderate-28

Disagree-09

It was found that 63% of Retailers found the pricing strategy to be Very Agree 09% were

Disagree and 28% were Moderate.

Q.3 Is the lead time to procure the goods from the distributer is too much?

A. Yes

B. No

67%

33%

Yes No

Interpretation

Retailers were asked weather the lead time to procure the goods from the distributer is too much or not; the following results were found

Yes-67

No-33

It was found that 67% of Retailers were very satisfied with the lead time to procure the goods

from distributers while 33% were Not Satisfied

Q.4 Are you satisfied with trade promotion schemes offered to Retailers?

A. Very Satisfied

B. Moderate

C. Not at all

10%

18%

72%

very satisfied moderate not at all

Interpretation

Retailers were asked weather they satisfied with trade promotion schemes offered by Kingfisher or not; the following results were found

Very Satisfied-10

Moderate-18

Not Satisfied-72

It was found that only 10% of Retailers were very satisfied with trade promotion schemes while

72% were Not Satisfied and 18% were Moderate.

Q.5 Is their any replacement given for damaged goods?

A. Yes

B. No

84%

16%

Yes No

Interpretation

Retailers were asked weather their is any replacement given for damaged goods or not; the following results were found

Yes-84

No-16

It was found that 84% of Retailers were satisfied with the replacement given for damaged goods while 16% were Not Satisfied.

FINDINGS

Majority of the retailers were not happy with the durability of the plastic bottle of

kingfisher.

More than half of the total number of retailers surveyed did not find the packaging of the

bottle appealing. They felt that there was room for improvement.

Retailers were not happy about the promotional schemes offered to them by the company

which consisted of only of 14”x10” wall posters and sheet banners. Major brands like

aquafina and kinley offered them personalized display banners, fridges, display stands,

and seasonal discounts.

A major slack in service quality was also observed. The response time to an order was

not quick. Stocks were not replenished on time due to which the retailer suffered shortage

of goods during demand.

In the study based on 100 retail outlets I found that 45%Retailers said that the customers

demanded bisleri, 20%retailers said that customers demanded kinley, 25%retailers said

that they demanded aquafina, 5% retailers said that the customer demanded kingfisher

and the remaining 5% retailers said that they demanded local brands.

Goods are generally replaced promptly if any damage or spoilage is found at the time of

delivery. Only in some stray cases, there was a delay in replacing damaged goods.

Maximum number of retailers felt that the company should provide fridge and display

stands for stocking their respective products. The chief reason behind this finding is that

the major brands which provide a fridge and display stands do not allow the retailers to

store other brands in their fridge.

LIMITATIONS

The sample size for the survey was 100 outlets. A perfect conclusion cannot be drawn

by surveying limited respondents.

Geographical survey was conducted only in a limited area i.e., Aurangabad. Therefore

this study cannot be considered a comprehensive report of the prevailing market

conditions all over the country.

There may be chances that some of the respondents might have furnished wrong

information during the survey or other sources.

Some of the respondents did not give a direct response to the questionnaire but just

gave a general feedback.

Lack of interest among the certain respondents to fill the questionnaire.

The time factor was the one of the major problems due to which the Retailers were too

busy to go through entire set of questionnaire design.

The duration stipulated to complete the entire project was two months.

Conclusions

The satisfaction level among retailers regarding kingfisher products is low owing to a

certain number of reasons.

A comprehensive study revealed that the leading players in the market are aquafina and

kinley. The survey also revealed that a strong distribution network, responsive after-sales

service, provision of fridge, display stands, display banners, and attractive promotional

schemes are the factors that make kinley and aquafina the top contenders for the numero

uno slot in the Aurangabad market.

Bottle quality, packaging, service, availability, and marketing strategy are the major

underperforming areas which need immediate corrective measures.

The major factors that influence retailer retention are profit margin, promotional

schemes, company’s goodwill, and product quality.

Kingfisher doesn’t provide fridge and display stands for its products the way kinley and

aquafina do. This proves as a major setback to kingfisher as retailers are apprehensive

about storing products of a different brand in a fridge provided by another company. The

reason being that companies providing fridge do not approve stocking of other products

in their fridge.

Nowadays, the market has shifted from the seller’s market to the buyer’s market.

The customers purchase the products only after verifying the quality, durability, after

sales service of the product.

RECOMMENDATIONS

After sales services should be improved.

Regular visit should be maintained for proper supply.

Increase no. of distributors.

More schemes should be launched by the company and organization.

One week credit facility or one bill due system should be introduced.

Sales promotion tools such as key chains, pens, banners, racks, note pads, stickers should

be given to the retailers.

Counters outside hospitals, cinema halls, at bus stands & at the tourists areas should be

given special consideration.

Packaging should be standardized & made attractive.

More experienced candidates should be appointed as sales officers.

Catering service providers should be taken care of.

The products should be advertised on a nationwide scale and the company should

increase awareness in local markets with the help of the distributors.

It is suggested to organize some small camps like medical camps, awareness camps and

social events. This helps the image of the company and enhances its reputation.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Philip Kotler, Marketing Management, 11th Edition.

2. www.kingfisherworld.com

3. Kothari C.R., Research Methodology: Methods and

Techniques, 2nd Edition.

4. Wikipedia

ANNEXURE

QUESTIONNAIRE

Dear Sir/ Madam I am student of Deogiri College of Management Science, BBA conducting a market survey related to my summer project which is a part of our education and whatever information you are willing to provide me will remain confidential.

Summer Project: 2011 Surveyor: Ketan M. RathodNAME OF RETAILER: AREA:

Q.1 Do you satisfied with the quality & overall packaging of Kingfisher Packaged Drinking

Water?

A. Very Satisfied

B. Moderate

C. Not Satisfied

Q.2 Do you feel that the pricing strategy of Kingfisher is competitive & provides satisfactory margin for retailer?

A. Very Agree

B. Moderate

C. Disagree

Q.3 Are you satisfied with point of purchase material provided by Kingfisher?

A. Very Satisfied

B. Moderate

C. Not Satisfied

Q.4 Is the lead time to procure the goods from the distributer is too much?

A. Yes

B. No

Q.5 Are you satisfied with the number of visits & services provided by sales personal?

A. Very Satisfied

B. Moderate

C. Not Satisfied

Q.6 Generally how many times a month do you have out of stock situation?

A. Always

B. Sometimes

C. Never

Q.7 Are you satisfied with trade promotion schemes offered to Retailers?

A. Very Satisfied

B. Moderately

C. Not at all

Q.8 Is their any replacement given for damaged goods?

A. Yes

B. No

Q.9 Do you feel that Kingfisher promotional champagne is playing vital role in liquidity of the goods?

A. Very Much

B. Moderate

C. Not at all